1. Politics of Education
1.1. Purposes of Schooling
1.1.1. Intellectual Purpose- teach basic cognitive skills such as reading, writing, and mathematics.
1.1.2. Political Purpose- Inculcate allegiance to the existing political order. Prepare citizens who will participate in this political order.
1.1.3. Social Purpose- Solve social problems.
1.1.4. Economic Purpose- Prepare students for their later occupational roles.
1.2. The Role of the School
1.2.1. Directly concerned with the aims, purposes, and functions of education in a society. Providing the necessary educational training to ensure that the most talented and hard-working individuals receive the tools necessary to maximize economic and social productivity.
2. Philosophy of Education
2.1. Pragmatism
2.1.1. Genetic Notions-group and experiential learning.
2.1.2. Goal of Education- preparation for life in a democratic society.
2.1.3. Role of the Teacher- Encourages, offers suggestions, questions, and helps plan and implement courses of study.
2.1.4. Methods of Instruction- Problem-solving or inquiry method.
2.1.5. Curriculum- Particular subject matter under investigation.
3. Curriculum and Pedagogy
3.1. Developmentalist Curriculum
3.1.1. Related to the needs and interests of the student rather than the needs of society.
3.1.2. This curriculum emanated from the aspects of Dewy's writings.
3.1.3. Importance of relating schooling to the life experiences of each child in a way that would make education come alive in a meaningful manner.
3.2. Two Dominant Traditions of Teaching
3.2.1. Curriculum
3.2.2. Teaching Practices
4. Equality of Opportunity
4.1. Impacts on Educational Outcomes
4.1.1. Class- Education is extremely Expensive. Highly correlated.
4.1.2. Race- undeniable, although, given the nature of the U.S. society, it is extremely difficult to separate race from class.
4.1.3. Gender- Success of educational reforms aimed at improving achievement.
4.2. Responses to the Coleman Study 1982
4.2.1. The relationship between social class, race, and achievement is a complex one.
4.2.2. Differences among school do make a difference
5. Educational Reform and School Improvement
5.1. Two school-based reforms
5.1.1. Privatization- private education companies increasingly becoming involved in public education in a variety of ways.
5.1.2. Teacher Quality- among the most important problems in American education. The data indicate that significant numbers of classrooms staffed by teachers who are not highly qualified in the particular subject they teach.
5.2. Two Societal, Community, Economic, and Political Reforms.
5.2.1. School Finance Reform- Supreme Court's 1973 decision in Rodriguez v. San Antonio, which declared there is no constitutional right to an equal education, school finance equity and adequacy advocates litigated at the state level.
5.2.2. Full Service and Community Schools- another way to attack education inequity is to examine and plan to educate not only the whole child, but also the whole community.
6. History of U.S. Eduaction
6.1. Equality of Opportunity
6.1.1. State-imposed segregation of schools was unconstitutional.
6.1.2. "separate but equal"
6.1.3. Separate educational institutions are unequal in and of themselves.
6.2. Historical Interpretation
6.2.1. The Democratic-Liberal School
6.2.1.1. Pace of movement
6.2.1.2. Triumph of the little people over the powerful.
7. Sociology of Education
7.1. Theoretical Perspectives
7.1.1. Functional Theories- View society as a kind of machine, where one part articulates with another to produce the dynamic energy required to make society work.
7.1.2. Conflict Theories- Emphasize struggle.
7.1.3. Interactional Theories- Attempt to make the commonplace strange by turning on their heads everyday taken-for-granted behaviors and interactions between students and students, and between students and teachers.
7.2. Effects on Schooling
7.2.1. Learning
7.2.2. Employment
7.2.3. Job performance
7.2.4. Income
7.2.5. Mobility
8. Schools As Organizations
8.1. Major Stakeholders
8.1.1. State Superintendent- Ed Richardson
8.1.2. Local Superintendent- Rodney P. Green
8.1.3. Administrative Secretary- Karla Latham
8.1.4. Federal Alabama senators and House of Representative - Doug Jones and Richard Shelby. Mo Brooks and Terri Sewell.
8.2. School Processes vs. School Cultures
8.2.1. School is a unity of interacting personalities.
8.2.2. Schools have a definite population.
8.2.3. Schools are shaped by a series of inherent contradictions that can develop cultures that are conflictual and even stagnant.
8.2.4. Changing the culture of a school requires time, effort, intelligence, and good will.
9. Explanations of Education Inequality
9.1. Two types of cultural differences.
9.1.1. African-American children do less well in school because they adapt to their oppressed position in the class and caste structure.
9.1.2. Lareau argues that working-class families use a natural growth model of child rearing in which children are encouraged to be independent and play on their own.
9.2. School-Centered Explanations
9.2.1. School financing
9.2.2. Effective school research
9.2.3. Between-school difference: curriculum and pedagogic practices
9.2.4. Within-school differences: curriculum and ability grouping.